93757 - COMUNICAZIONE E IMPRESA

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students:

- are familiar with the multiple dimensions of corporate communication and can identify goals and strategies associated with them;

- are able to analyze communication campaigns considering specificities of and connections between different media arenas (legacy and digital);

- master the main theories connected to the creation and management of brand value;

- have acquired specific knowledge related to corporate communication through social networking platforms;

- are familiar with multiple case histories related to the communication effort of companies and brands at national and international levels.

Course contents

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following program. Lectures (16 hours in remote on MS TEAMS) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars (12 hours) aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. For the seminar section of the course, students will be divided in two groups according to their preferences and according to rules concerning the current pandemic emergency: one group will do the seminar in classroom (12 hours) and another group will do the seminar remotely on MS TEAMS (12 hours), for a total of 28 hours for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation through presentations of existing scholarship and case studies will also be expected. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

In the first section of the course the multiple dimensions of corporate communication are presented, including: internal communication, public relations, advertising, brand management and direct marketing, promotions and sponsorships. Each of these activities is discussed with reference to goals, tools and relations with stake-holders.
The second section of the course, developed around seminar sessions, is based on presentations and discussions of case histories, analysis of materials and documents related to successful communication campaigns, and review of relevant empirical research and theoretical contributions. More specifically, the seminars will cover the following topics: corporate storytelling, digital branding, social media advertising, influencer marketing, brand activism and corporate social responsibility, crisis management.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending Students

Reference text for the first section of the course:

Pecchenino, M., & Arnese, E. D. (2016). Digital corporate communication. Le cinque leve della comunicazione d'impresa nell'era del web, FrancoAngeli, Milano.

The full list of readings and material for the second section of the course will be circulated on the first day of class.

 

Non attending Students

1) Pecchenino, M., & Arnese, E. D. (2016). Digital corporate communication. Le cinque leve della comunicazione d'impresa nell'era del web, FrancoAngeli, Milano.

2) Gabrielli, V. (2014), Brand Communication, Il Mulino, 2014 (capitoli 1, 2, 5, 6)

3) Gnasso, S., & Iabichino, P. (2014). Existential marketing. I consumatori comprano, gli individui scelgono, Hoepli.

N.B. Non attending students are requested to write the course instructor at least three weeks before taking the exam.

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminars, class presentations

Assessment methods

Attending Students

Class presentation and participation (30% of the final grade)

Final take-home written exam (70% of the final grade)

 

Non Attending Students

Final take-home written exam for Non attending students (100% of the final grade)

N.B. Non attending students are requested to write the course instructor at least three weeks before taking the exam.

 

Teaching tools

Powerpoint presentations, web videos, data visualizations, and practical exercises (a more specific list of teaching tools will be defined in coherence with the number of students attending the course)

Office hours

See the website of Augusto Valeriani